In Space, No One Can Hear You Whinny

After her harrowing ordeal in the Alien movies, Ellen Ripley just wanted to retire to a quiet ranch, raise horses, and never see another creature with a mouth for a tongue ever again. Unfortunately, one of the aliens got there first…

All right, sweethearts, what are you waiting for? Noms in bed? Another glorious day in the meadow! A day in the horse paddock is like a day on the…er… farm. Every bucket of oats is a banquet! Every blankie a comfort! Every canter a parade! I LOVE the meadow!

There’s also teratoma, which is a tumor where cells get confused as to what exactly they’re supposed to be doing and start growing teeth, hair, or even heart cells. They can happen anywhere that skin folds inward to become something different, or even just a different kind of skin.

I wonder if the ones that grow heart cells could provide some kind of avenue for lab-grown replacement hearts without the need for stem cells.